SPD gets absolute majority in Saarland – Greens and FDP not in the state parliament
After the success in the federal government, the SPD also won the election in Saarland. The new prime minister will be Anke Rehlinger, who might even govern alone. Incumbent Tobias Hans has been deselected.
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SPD top candidate Anke Rehlinger has won the election in Saarland and can become the next prime minister.
© Arne Dedert/dpa
Change of power in Saarland: With a triumphant result, the SPD replaced the CDU as the strongest party in the state elections on Sunday following more than two decades. The new prime minister will be the previous deputy head of government and economics minister, Anke Rehlinger (45). Even a social-democratic sole government is now possible in the Saar. After the disastrous election evening, the voted-out CDU Prime Minister Tobias Hans (44) indicated that he would also resign as chairman of the state CDU. According to the provisional official final result, only the AfD made it into the state parliament alongside the SPD and CDU.
The first state election since the federal election six months ago was also a mood test for the new federal government. In contrast to the Social Democrats, the two smaller coalition partners in Berlin can be anything but satisfied: According to the provisional official final result, neither the Greens nor the FDP made it into the state parliament. However, the Greens are only missing a few votes to get over the five percent hurdle. It looks like there were 23 votes too few, said the top candidate Lisa Becker of the German Press Agency. The hope of the Greens is now that this might change before the official final result through recounts. It is planned that the state election committee will announce the final result on April 6th.
CDU gets the worst result in Saarland for 67 years
According to the preliminary result, the SPD won 43.5 percent, an increase of almost 14 points compared to the 2017 election (29.6 percent). The CDU fell to 28.5 percent (2017: 40.7 percent) – their worst result in the smallest German state in 67 years. This would give the SPD a clear absolute majority in the state parliament: 29 out of a total of 51 mandates. The final result should be available in a few days.
Tobias Hans (CDU) has been voted out as Prime Minister in Saarland.
© Oliver Dietze/dpa
Mathematically, a grand coalition would be possible once more in Saarbrücken, as has been the case for ten years – but now under new leadership. In the evening, Rehlinger left open whether the SPD wants to risk a one-man government, if the figures show it. She said on ZDF: “For me, stability is the decisive factor in forming a government.” In the next few days she wants to conduct exploratory talks.
Greens, FPD and left no longer in the state parliament
The picture for the smaller parties was as follows: the AfD is clearly back in the state parliament with 5.7 percent (2017: 6.2). The Greens (4.0) just missed the five percent hurdle with 4.99502 percent. The FDP got stuck at 4.8 percent. The left, which was thrown out of the state parliament with only 2.6 percent (12.8), is no longer there. The party had had serious quarrels in the Saar – up to the resignation of its ex-federal chairman Oskar Lafontaine. Voter turnout was around 63 percent, lower than five years ago. At that time it was 69.7 percent.
The SPD federal vice-president Rehlinger made the leap to the top in her home country at the second attempt. The lawyer is now the first SPD head of government in the history of Saarland. Nationwide, there will then be four social democratic women at the head of a state government – more than ever before. The other parties from the Union to the Greens to the Left only have male heads of government. For the Saar SPD, this is the best result since the turn of the millennium.
The SPD celebrated their success. “The Saarland voted red,” said Rehlinger. After the federal election victory, the federal chairman Lars Klingbeil spoke of a “comeback” of his party at the state level. The SPD is now hoping for momentum for the next elections this year: in May there will be elections in Schleswig-Holstein and North Rhine-Westphalia. In both countries, the CDU is the prime minister. Lower Saxony, led by the SPD, follows in October.
Hans announces “personal consequences”.
Hans announced “personal consequences”. “This is really a very bitter defeat for the Christian Democrats in the Saar.” The CDU had not succeeded in putting the important issues in the foreground. The CDU had been the head of government in Saarbrücken for almost 23 years without interruption. However, Hans was his party’s top candidate for the first time. He left open whether he would also go into the cabinet as a deputy under Rehlinger.
CDU General Secretary Mario Czaja described his party’s crash as a “painful result.” The new federal chairman Friedrich Merz stayed away from the TV cameras on the evening of the election. (dpa)